Katie: 25 years of James Mayhew's book series – in pictures

James Mayhew is the 2014 Illustrator-in-Residence at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. In this gallery to mark the 25th anniversary of the much-loved picture book,
Katie's Picture Show, author and illustrator James reveals how he creates the Katie books – and what the next one is about...

James Mayhew: “The idea for Katie came to me when I was very young. My parents had a book of art that I looked at before I could even read. It was full of the usual famous paintings, but I wanted to know what the story was behind each one. And a seed was sown... this is the anniversary edition of Katie’s Picture Show – celebrating 25 years of making art an adventure for children!"

James: "In 2014, I chose to reillustrate Katie's Picture Show to mark its 25th birthday. I learned so much working on my books and technique over the years that I wanted to produce a better homage to the artists in the story and create a book that would last another quarter century. It was strangely enjoyable to revisit these original scenes. Here is the pencil sketch for The Hay Wain." Photograph: Hachette Children's Books

James: "To replicate the effects of oil paint, I use matt emulsion as a base. It's a great medium upon which I then draw and paint with ever more refined and detailed tools. I use inks, pastels, nibs and brushes, then scalpels to scrape and fingers to smudge – I like to get my hands dirty." Photograph: Hachette Children's Books

James: "In Katie and the Sunflowers, Katie visits pictures by Van Gogh and other Post-Impressionists. Here she creates havoc, chasing a dog through Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night. I found Van Gogh one of the harder artists to pastiche. It was difficult to recapture the energy of his mark making on a small scale." Photograph: Hachette Children's Books

James: "Although most of the Katie books are about art, sometimes Katie has other adventures. In Katie in Scotland, she meets Nessie and travels from Loch Ness to Glasgow. I began by sketching on location, travelling across Scotland for inspiration. This book was illustrated in a slightly different way, with ink line and wash, and a lot fewer layers than the illustrations based on Old Masters." Photograph: Hachette Children's Books

James: "Katie's bestselling title is Katie in London. This adventure involves meeting one of Trafalgar Square’s lions. He might look like a statue but there's more to him than meets the eye..." Photograph: Hachette Children's Books

James: "The lion gallops off with Katie and Jack to show them all the sights, including the Tower of London. Katie is based on my sister, Kate, so Jack is really me, of course! To those who are visiting London this summer, there’s a Katie bench (painted by me!) actually at the Tower of London as part of the National Literacy Trust’s Books About Town programme." Photograph: Hachette Children's Books

James: "Katie's newest adventure takes place on Christmas Eve, when they discover Father Christmas needs help delivering his presents. Will they manage to fill all the stockings? You'll find the answer in Katie's London Christmas." Photograph: Hachette Children's Books

James: "Look out for Katie’s London Christmas, which will be published this year! For more information about Katie and other forthcoming events, please visit my website." Photograph: Hachette Children's Books
• In November, the National Gallery of Scotland will be hosting a major retrospective exhibition of illustrations for the Katie series to celebrate 25 years of publishing success.
• James will also be presenting family concerts with orchestras this autumn, where he will be painting illustrations, live on stage, to music including Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Grieg's Peer Gynt and Rossini's William Tell

Laura Barton: The Morvern Callar author used to celebrate finishing a book by spending four days in the pub. At 50, he has eased up a bit, but he hasn't lost any enthusiasm for literature or his homeland